In keeping with the Courts of Justice Act, the Court of Québec is made up of a maximum of 270 judges. When it was created in 1988, the Court had 17 female judges. By 2006, that number had climbed to 78.
According to the Regulation respecting the procedure for the selection of persons apt for appointment as judges, in order to qualify for such a position, a person must be a member of the Barreau du Québec, with at least 10 years of membership, and submit his application in writing, following publication of such a vacancy notice, either in a newspaper or in the Barreau du Québec's journal. A thorough selection process is subsequently conducted by a committee consisting of a judge of the Court, a representative of the Barreau du Québec and a representative of the public. This committee then submits recommendations to the Minister of Justice, who in turn, on this basis, makes his own recommendations to Cabinet.
Each judge in the Court of Québec may exercise the Court's entire jurisdiction, throughout the province, regardless of the division to which he is assigned.
The judges are appointed "during good behaviour", pursuant to the Courts of Justice Act. In matters of training and ethics, they are subject to the Conseil de la magistrature du Québec, Québec's judicial council.
Assistant (Supernumerary) Judges
Over the past few years, the Court has been benefiting from a certain number of supernumerary judges (called "assistant judges" in the Courts of Justice Act). In recent years, this number has ranged from 18 to 26.
Occasionally, such Assistant Judges may be assigned in order to offset delays until vacant positions have been filled. The need to have recourse to Assistant Judges is also due to certain judges' extended absence from the bench or from a temporary increase in the workload, which cannot be handled otherwise.
Assistant Judges are retired Court of Québec judges who perform such judicial duties for a set period of time, as determined by an order.
Judges in Management Positions
A court with such a large number of judges and called upon to serve such a vast territory as the province of Québec must have an organization structure so that its members can carry out their responsibilities efficiently, in order to serve the people who are subject to the jurisdiction of the Courts, and society in general.
And that is why the Courts of Justice Act provides for the Government's appointment of judges to hold management positions:
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the Chief Judge, who is in charge of managing the Court and who, in particular, has the responsibility of ensuring compliance with the Judicial Code of Ethics
- the Senior Associate Chief Judge, who assists and advises the Chief Judge, in performing all his responsibilities
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three Associate Chief Judges, who also assist the Chief Judge and advise him; however, in these cases, they do so in relation to the matters coming under the division to which they are assigned (civil, criminal and penal or youth)
- an Associate Chief Judge responsible for municipal courts.
From among the Court judges, the Chief Judge also appoints 10 Coordinating Judges and 8 Associate Coordinating Judges. The Coordinating Judge for the Montréal region, and the one for the Québec City region, are usually each provided with the support of three Associate Coordinating Judges; moreover, one Associate Coordinating Judge is appointed to the Laval-Laurentides-Lanaudière region, and another to the Montérégie region.
The Coordinating Judges and Associate Coordinating Judges look after efficiently running the day-to-day judicial activities within their territory or respective division.
It is within the greatest respect of judicial independence that judges in management positions perform their responsibilities in relation to judges.
Presiding Justices of the Peace
Presiding Justices of the Peace have been performing their responsibilities within the Court since 2005. At the present time, there are 33 Presiding Justices of the Peace, who benefit from the guarantees of independence that are necessary in their work. They carry out the functions and exercise the powers specified under the Courts of Justice Act, which mainly include hearing penal cases and following up on requests for authorization from various parties within the justice system and the police force.
Presiding Justices of the Peace are accessible day and night, all year long, throughout the territory of the province of Québec. To be so available, they have state-of-the-art communication technology at their disposal.
The Regulation respecting the procedure for the selection of persons apt for appointment as judgesapplies to Presiding Justices of the Peace.
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